Mickey Harte not getting carried away with Tyrone start

Laois 0-14 Tyrone 1-14: Three wins from three now for Tyrone, but it isn’t as if Mickey Harte’s team have been affording him a comfortable ride.

It took two quickfire points to convert defeat into victory on the opening day against Cavan and they almost let the entirety of an eight-point lead slip from their fingers in Galway before succumbing to a near identical bout of complacency here in Portlaoise.

Eight points was again the margin after substitute Padraig McNulty finished a penetrating and direct move through the Laois rearguard with a low shot to the home net after 57 minutes. It looked a question then of just how wide the eventual margin would be. No-one could have predicted at that point that it would take a smothering save by Tyrone goalkeeper Michael O’Neill from Niall Donoher’s injury-time shot to prevent the home side from taking what would have been a larcenous share of the spoils.